Henry Purcell

The Life of Henry Purcell Henry Purcell was a famous English composer during the Baroque period of music. There is very little known about Henry Purcell’s life. Purcell was born September 10, 1659 in the Westminster area of central London, England. His father, who was also named Henry Purcell was a gentleman at the Chapel Royal and the master of Choristers in Westminster Abbey but he died in 1664 when Purcell was around six years old. After the death of his father his mother Elizabeth was forced

Henry Purcell is seen as one of the greatest composers of the Baroque period and one of the greatest of all English composers. His earliest surviving works date from 1680 and show a complete command of musical composition. They include some fantasias for viols, masterpieces of contrapuntal writing, and more contemporary sonatas for violins, which reveal some acquaintance with Italian models. Purcell, in his time, became increasingly in demand as a composer, and his theatre music in particular made

The Baroque period is an era of artistic style utilizing embellished motion, pure and effortlessly interpreted detail to yield drama, tension, exuberance, and opulence in representation. The opera “The Fairy Queen” by Henry Purcell is an excellent representation of the Baroque era in its inordinate application of all theatrical foundations, embroidered indications, and the selected focused elucidation to return melodrama, emotional tension, enthusiasm, and sumptuousness for the audience watching

help but feel the overly dramatized emotions performed by the cast members.Whether it be dramatic emotions involving pure joy or sadness the expression on the performers faces stay visually strong. In this instance the opera “Dido and Aeneas” by Henry Purcell transcribes that sense of it being both a story of love and happiness while having a dramatic ending. Although operas provide musical ratification it also brings up the idea of an opera taking away the sense of a textual dialogue among the performers/characters

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell was born on September the 10th of 1659 in St Anne’s Lane, Old Pye Street, Westminster. He was the son of Henry Senior, and Elizabeth Purcell and brother to Edward and Daniel, also an organist. He died at his home in Westminster on the 21st November of 1695. He was only 36 years old. His nationality was English and he attended Westminster School. Henry’s father was a master of choristers and was employed at the Chapel Royal, he was also Henry’s first singing teacher. After

The development and contribution Purcell made to the operatic genre through his opera and dramatic works. Henry Purcell (1659-1695) composed music for many different genres. Among these he wrote one true opera, Dido and Aeneas (1689). He also wrote a number of dramatic works. Purcell spent the majority of his last five years composing music for the stage. The majority of Purcell’s dramatic instrumental music or songs were used in spoken plays. Purcell went on to write four semi-operas; Dioclesian

“death”. This piece was composed by Henry Purcell in the late sixteenth century and is one of England’s oldest operas and Purcell’s only opera. The chorus is “With drooping Wings” with a lament “Thy hand, Belinda”. Purcell put a good plot on this piece about tragic love. It has an Italian tradition of setting a lament over a basso ostinato, or ground bass. This piece has changing harmonies, and violins come in adding expressive dissonances to heighten the mood. Purcell used major keys to provoke happiness

The Roman myth of Dido and Aeneas as told by Vergil in his Aeneid was redone by Henry Purcell in 1689 in his opera Dido and Aeneas. Although the opera follows the overall storyline of the myth, there are several differences between the retelling and the original myth. These differences affecting the message the myths convey and reflecting the time period they were written in. In Vergil’s version Aeneas and the other refugees’ ships crash in North Africa due to a storm Juno asks the king of the winds

For some, turning thirty is a big deal. For Opera Atelier turning thirty is an outstanding accomplishment few companies could ever compare or measure up to. Moreover, retrofitting Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas seven times in the companies history is a creative feat unto itself. I first became familiar with Opera Atelier in the 1990’s. A time when it was still considered to be an “indy opera company”. Fortunately, that label has changed and I’ve been able to witness the companies progression. I have

the last thing that crossed my mind was what kind of music could accompany such mundane yet ethereal movement. If I were to have guessed what musical score would be used for Pina Bausch’s abstract choreography, I surely never would have imagined Henry Purcell’s arias from Dido and Aeneas. On a basic level, Pina’s choreography seemed to have no correlation to the music. The sporadic rhythm of her choreography never seemed to follow the trembling voice of the soprano or dramatic cry of the violins